Harvard Goes South: Aquawomen Shine

Andre Ware of the University of Houston football team may have won the Heisman Trophy this weekend, but the Cougars' women's swimming team wasn't so lucky, as Harvard upset the Texans, 83-57, Friday in the first round of the Alabama Invitational.

The win sparked the Crimson (5-1) to a 4-1 record at the tourney, with its only loss coming at the hands of third-ranked Florida Saturday. In a tri-meet yesterday, the Crimson easily handled Florida St. (98-42), Southern Illinois (97-42) and Maryland (84-56).

Encouraging

"It was very encouraging. The team looks strong," Harvard Coach Maura Costin-Scalise said. "There were a lot of people here who couldn't believe we were as competitive as we are."

Consistent swimming by a strong nucleus of swimmers--Sheila Findley, Co-Captain Mia Costello, Nina Anderson, Jill Hutchinson, Stephane Wriede, Stacie Duncan, Lynn Kelly and Eva Romas--helped key the strong outing.

Against Houston, Wriede turned in the top performance, qualifying for the NCAA individual tournament in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:18.8. Costello claimed the 100 breaststroke with Wriede touching the wall right behind her teammate.

Freestyle

In the freestyle, Anderson won the 50 meters, Hutchinson won the 200 meters and Romas finished second in the 100-meter race. In the backstroke events, Findley captured both the 100-and 200-meter events. And in the butterfly, Kelly placed first in the 100-meter race.

Findley, Hutchinson, Costello and Anderson snagged the 200-meter medley in a time of 16:50.

"Everyone was surprised at how strong we were against Houston," Costin-Scalise said. "At first we started winning in the pool events, and I think they got discouraged."

In Saturday's loss to the Gators, Duncan claimed the team record for the 1000-meter freestyle, placing second in a time of 10:07.28.

But the Crimson had a tough time earning points against a team comprised of "at least half Olympians," according to Costin-Scalise.

Anderson won the 50-meter freestyle and Hutchinson took second in the 100-meter freestyle. Costello placed second in the 200-meter breaststroke and Kelly finished second in the 100-meter butterfly.

Yesterday proved to be different, with the Crimson dominating the tri-meet. Findley, Costello, Kelly and Romas barely missed qualifying for nationals in winning the 400 medley relay. Duncan dominated the distance events, winning the 500- and 1000-meter freestyles.

Findley swept the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke events, Kelly won the 200-meter butterfly and Anne Koerckel won the 200-meter IM event.